These Hands
by DeityOfDeath
Summary: Duo and the others rescue a group of children and try to make their lives better than theirs had been growing up. Are they the one teaching lessons in life or are the children the ones who have the answers to lifes lessons?


**Title: This Hand's**

**Author: DeityOfDeath**

**Archive: Yes Onegai...**

**Pairings: 1x2x5, 3x4, All!**

**Category: Drama, romance, sentimental**

**Rating: NC-17 for yaoi and shonen Ai content**

**Spoilers: Episode Zero**

**Warnings: Man on man love! **

**Disclaimers: I never have or ever will own Gundam Wing or its chars.**

**  
The lyrics are from Hands by Jewel. **

** Song Lyrics **

_**These Hands**_

**Chapter 1:**

Duo paced the small room in less than four strides and stared out the frost covered windows. He wrapped his arms around himself and squeezed tightly in the hopes of keeping in what heat he had left, in his body. He closed his eyes and listened to the labored breathing of the small child he had laid by the fire place with its meager fire that he himself had made. He turned to look at the small child curled up in the fetal position, clutching Duo's heavier coat around her thin frame. Her thick curly black hair was tangled and matted and her pale almost alabaster skin was covered in bruises and cuts and smudged here and there with dirt and muck. She whimpered in her fitful sleep and Duo's heart stopped in his chest, his eyes filled with the beginnings of spiteful tears. He stared out the window again hoping to see some sign of the others.

_ If I could tell the world just one thing, it would be that we're all okay. And not to worry cause worry is wasteful and useless in times like these _

What he saw instead were the empty trash filled streets of L2 and many abandoned and close to crumbling houses covered in darkness with only the wavering light of crackling fires made in trashcans as the homeless and lost struggled to keep warm around the smelly fires. He knew what it was like to live on these streets. He had grown up on this colony and in this very city. He lost himself in his memories and found that he was too late to notice the soft patter of feet up the stairs of the abandoned building. He heard the door open and ducked quickly with his pistol aimed and ready at the door. He looked up and saw a surprised looking Quatre carrying an infant no older than five months, wrapped in his under coat and held close to his body with the jacket open so that his body warmth enveloped the infant hidden in swaddling.

Duo lowered his gun and sighed in relief. He stood and walked towards Quatre, helping the blonde Arab take off his heaviest jacket before leading him over to the fire. He cleared a spot for Quatre to sit before walking over to a pile of broken furniture and breaking off another sofa leg and tossing it into the fireplace.

"Have you seen any signs of Heero or Wufei?" asked Quatre softly as he rocked the cold infant in his arms.

Duo shook his head, "Not since we raided that sweat shop over two hours ago. How about you? Any sign of Trowa?"

Quatre un-wrapped the infant's blankets to check him over and then looked up into Duo's amethyst depths, I was alongside Trowa until the soldiers caught up and then we split up to confuse them. I heard a few gun shots and saw Trowa run past the alley I was headed down with pursuers still on his tail."

"They'll be fine", said Duo as he broke off another leg and tore some fabric from the old dingy couch he stood over, "Trowa and Heero are as indestructible as gundanium alloy and Wufei is a well trained martial artist. Of course, I'm trying to convince myself more than you", said Duo with a weak smile.

Quatre smiled and before he could speak the door opened. Duo found himself crouched once again on the floor with his pistol aimed. When he looked up at the head his pistol was aimed at, he saw a cool look of indifference on a very snow covered Heero Yuy. In Heero's arms, with tiny barely covered arms wrapped around Heero's neck; was a young boy with golden blonde hair that looked more brunette with all the dirt and muck covering it and eyes the color of spring grass. Beside Heero stood a thin, long armed and legged gangly girl with deep caramel skin and bright red hair. Her gray eyes were penetrating and calculating and filled with such defiance that it made Duo smile. He lowered his gun but kept it in hand.

"Speak of the devil", said Quatre grinning.

"That would be Duo", said a baritone voice behind Heero.

Heero walked into the room and over to the fire. As he entered a snow covered Trowa could be seen standing in the doorway. Heero sat down next to Quatre and looked up at the young girl who looked no older than ten or eleven and then patted the space in front of him. She hesitated, looking around at the others before grunting and making her way over to the spot that Heero had patted. She sat a few inches away from Heero's indicated spot and sat in a position that allowed her to keep a keen eye on the strangers around her as well as enjoy the warmth of the fire. Duo suppressed a grin and then walked over to Trowa who still stood in the doorway. Trowa's right arm seemed to have a slow stream of crimson blood trailing from his shoulder down to the tips of stiff frozen looking fingers. Duo saw that Trowa needed tending to which would normally be no problem but then he saw what was attached to Trowa's other hand.

Trowa looked down at his right hand where a smaller pudgier hand held on as if his hand was a life preserver. Attached to that hand was a small child whose gender seemed unknown. The face lay covered in soot, dirt and other unknown substances and long violet locks covered what couldn't be seen on that dirty face. Duo knelt down to look eye to eye and smiled widely. The child looked at him apprehensively.

"Would you like to come over and sit by the fire? We still have some good spots left."

The child looked over at the warm inviting fire where other children were already seated with two of the other rescuers and then looked back up at Duo's smiling cherubic face. The child nodded and then placed his hand in Duo's. Duo knew what it cost this child to make that decision. He had made decisions like this many times in his childhood. The decision to follow Solo, the decision to trust Father Maxwell and Sister Helen, and then there was the decision to become a Gundam pilot. He hoped that he was worthy of this child's faith.

_ I won't be made useless on the idle of despair, I'll gather myself around my faith, a light that the darkness most fears _

Duo settled the child near his own sleeping charge. He took off another layer of jacket and placed it over the child before he walked over to Trowa, who was trying to shrug out of his heavy coat. Duo made a tisking sound before gently helping Trowa out of the coat and setting it aside. Duo then pulled over an old rickety but sturdy set of stools and set one down for Trowa to sit on. He set the other down next to Trowa and started studying the wound on Trowa's shoulder through his jacket.

"I know its cold Tro, but your gonna have to take off the jacket and maybe your sweater and turtle neck so I can get a closer look at this", said Duo professionally.

The older girl watched from her corner as Trowa followed Duo's directions and then proceeded to let Duo prod and poke at the wound. She couldn't understand how one could trust the other enough to let them prod and poke at a wound that apparently hurt. Her musing ended when she saw the worry on the youngest adults face as he watched the braided man examine the bullet wound. She figured that the blonde one and the uni-banged brunette were either; A.) Siblings, B.) Friends or C.) Lovers. She suspected C was the most likely.

Duo looked up and smiled at Quatre, "No worries Q-bean! It's just a little injury. Trowa will be fine, won't you Trowa?"

Trowa smiled and nodded at Quatre, who let the relief show openly.

Duo went over to an abandoned black backpack and pulled out a small metal box. He took out some cotton balls, a small bottle of orange liquid, a little packet and then some bandages. He opened the little packet and pulled out a wet napkin which wafted a strong smell of alcohol through the room and then used the napkin to wipe at and around the wound. He pulled another napkin out and got as much blood off of the arm and fingers as humanly possible with the small wet nap. He then tossed both into a paper bag and took up a cotton ball, covering it with the orange liquid he swabbed at and around the now clean wound. He then used a second one to cover areas he had missed. He put gauze pads in abundance on the wound and then wrapped linen cloth around it before covering the rest with an ace bandage. He looked at his handiwork for a minute or two before helping Trowa slip his turtle neck back on along with his sweater. He wrapped Trowa's heavy coat around him and then watched as Trowa nodded and thanked him in his usual tone before walking over to Quatre. Duo sighed and carried the stool over so that Trowa could sit comfortably behind Quatre.

_ My hands are small I know, but they're not yours they are my own, but they're not yours they are my own and I am never broken _

Duo smiled and broke off another piece of the old couch and threw it into the fire place making a crackling noise that echoed softly through the abandoned house. A new wave of warmth permeated through the room and the children seemed to slowly fall asleep one after the other, as if under a spell. Duo walked over to the dingy dirt and snow covered window, with its dreary thread bare curtains and looked out once again. He heard a soft creak and turned to look at the fireplace. Heero stood up and as quietly as he could slip off his top coat and shook it off; making sure all the bits of snow had dried. He then leaned over the small blonde boy who was wrapped securely in the arms of the defiant red head, as both slept. He laid his coat over the two and then checked to make sure that the other children were sufficiently covered. Trowa had already covered the violet haired child with his top coat and was now leaning against Quatre's back, his hands securely around the snoozing Arab's chest and arms where the infant slept quietly and warmly, tufts of platinum blonde hair peaking out.

Heero looked up and met Duo's eyes before he stood up and silently stalked over to the window. Duo turned his whole body to face Heero and when Heero's arms were held out in front of him Duo let his calm exterior slip and crossed the few inches that separated them to bury his head into Heero's chest. Heero wrapped his arms around Duo's thin and shivering body and pulled Duo into him. He made sure that no space would separate them as he gently massaged Duo's back. Duo relaxed into the embrace, clinging to Heero and his warmth.

"Do you think Wufei's okay?" Duo softly asked from his pillowed embrace.

"I'm sure he's okay", said a calm voice that was laced with the slightest hint of worry.

To Be Continued...

I wrote this 4 years ago as a stand alone song fic but due to my busy schedule and the death of my first computer ever I had to rewrite the whole thing and decided to make it into a series. So Enjoy and please give me and feed back or idea's you have.


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